EUROPEAN YOUTHS CONVERGE IN MORAVIAN VILLAGE TO RESTORE JEWISH CEMETARY [sic] August 10, 1999. "In an era when so many tragic stories of hate and violence are reported among young people, a refreshing story has emerged from a Moravian village. Students from five European countries gathered on Sunday to take on the task of cleaning and refurbishing a Jewish cemetery in the village of Miroslav, near the South Moravian town of Znojmo. The group of students included nineteen young Czechs, along with fellow students from Germany, Poland, The Netherlands and Slovakia. The student spent 40 hours each to clean up rubble, as well as personally meet those who have been promoting Jewish cultural values, including writer Ivan Klima, Brno-based artist Wolf Spitzbart and playwright Milan Uhde. The Miroslav Jewish Cemetery ha tombstones dating from as early as the 17th century." [February 2009] cemetery photos [February 2009]
Jewish Community of Brno owns, manages, and renovated the cemetery around 1997. town image and town website in Czech. [February 2009]
cemetery photos [June 2009]
Miroslav Jewish Community
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US Commission No. CZCE0000132
Alternate German name: Miroslav [Cz], Mißlitz [Ger], Misslitz. Miroslav is in Morava-Znojmo at 48°57' N, 16°19' E , 22 miles SW of Brno (Brünn).[1900 Cemetery: 0.6 km SE on Nadrazni Street. Present population is 1000-5000 with than 10 Jews.
- Town: Mayor Engineer Jindrich Mach, Mestsky Urad, namesti Svobody 1, 672 71 Miroslav; tel. 0621/911201.
- Regional: PhDr. Jan Cech, Okresni Urad-Referat Kultury, 699 01 Znojmo; tel. 0624/4201.
- Interested: Jihomoravske Muzeum, dir. PhDr. Petr Suler, ulica Premyslovuc 2, 669 01 Znojmo; tel. 0624/4961. Dr. Lia Rysava, Trinactky 9, 671 72 Miroslav; tel. 0621/911348
- Robert Herzog, Vaclavov 14, 672 71 Miroslav; tel. 0621/911148 has the key.
Earliest known Jewish community was the 16th century. [1900 Jewish population: 528] 1938 Jewish population was 269. This was a self-standing political community from 1867 to 1924. Noteworthy individuals: Dr. Simon Stern (19th century), rabbi; Jakob Herzog (1842-1915), playright; Armin Brunner (1864-1929), writer; Ernst Muller (1880-1954), poet. The Jewish cemetery originated in the 16th century with last known Conservative Jewish burial in 1940. The isolated suburban hillside has no sign. Reached by turning directly off a public road, access is open to all via a continuous masonry wall, a broken masonry wall, and locking gate. Size of cemetery before and after WWII: 0.592 ha.
500-1000 gravestones, in original location with 50%-75% toppled or broken, date from 1691-20th century. The marble, granite, limestone, and sandstone flat shaped stones, finely smoothed and inscribed stones, flat stones with carved relief decoration or obelisks have Hebrew, German, and/or Czech inscriptions. Some have traces of painting on their surfaces and/or metal fences around graves. The cemetery contains special memorial monuments to Jewish soldiers but no known mass graves. There is a pre-burial house with wall inscriptions. Brno Jewish community owns the property used for Jewish cemetery only. Adjacent properties are agricultural and residential. Occasionally, private visitors stop. Vandalism occurred from World War II onward. Local non-Jewish residents, local or municipal authorities, and Jewish groups within country re-erected stones, patched broken stones, cleaned stones, cleared vegetation, and fixed wall in 1946-67, 1985, and 1991. Current care is occasional clearing or cleaning by authorities. Security (uncontrolled access), pollution, vandalism, and incompatible nearby development are slight threats. Weather erosion and vegetation are moderate threats. Vegetation overgrowth constantly disturbs stones.
Engineer arch. Jaroslav Klenovsky, Zebetinska 13, 623 00 Brno; tel. 0 completed survey on 1 March 1992. Documentation: Hugo Gold: Die Juden und Judengemeinden Mahrens (1928) and Jan Herman: Jewish Cemeteries in Bohemia and Moravia (1980). Other documentation exists but was too old. Klenovsky visited site in November 1991. No interviews.